Mining machine chain lug



April 9,1946. H. M. MORROW 2,398,107

MINING MACHINE CHAIN LUG- Original Filed Jan. 15, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l j" INVENTOR. aw

1946, H. M. MORROW 2,398,107

' MINING MACHINE CHAIN LUG Original Filed Jan. 15, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 9, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MINING MACHINE CHAIN LUG Harry M. Morrow, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Bowdil Company Original application January 15, 1941, Serial No. 374,521. Divided and this application March 8, 1943, Serial No. 478,467

4 Claims.

tively driven around a cutter bar by means of a sprocket wheel. If the chain is not properly designed, it tends to sag, jump, buckle, or not run smoothly to give good results. In the construction of my chain, I have given particular attention to this problem and have designed my chain to avoid the foregoing mentioned objections, as well as to give increased eiiiciency of operation and long life.

Therefore, an object of my invention is the construction of a mining machine chain which runs Another object of my invention is the provision of enabling every lug in the chain to become a bit carrying lug, or of enabling every'other lug, or any other member, to become a bit carrying lug with intervening lugs having no bit carrying lugs.

Another object of my invention is the provision of providing a tooth socket recess for-the procket Wheel in every lug of the chain.

Another object of my invention is to simplify the construction of the chain lug by making parts of identical construction.

' Another object of my invention is the provision of a mining machine chain which may be manufactured witha standard pitch and accommodate any ratio of gearing of the mining machine and yet maintain the cutting speed within certain operating limits.

' Another object of my invention is to make the juncture between the eye connection portion of the chain lug and the yoke connection portion gradually curved or angular, as distinguished from being square, to provide a-strong integral juncture.

Another object of my invention is the provision of facilitating the ready insertion or removal of a chain lug from the chain.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a pin-type connection for connecting the chain lug together, in which the pin may be easily and v readily inserted or removed when assembling or dis-assembling a lug in the chain.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of. my invention may be had by referring to the following descriptionv and claims, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure l is a plan view of a one-half part of my chain lug; Figure 2 is a plan view of two of the one-half parts Welded together;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of Figure 2; Figure 4 is an end view of my bit carrying body which is to be welded to the parts shown in Figures 2 and 3 to make the completed chain lu Figure 5 is an end view of the completed chain Figure 6 is a perspective view of a tying or bridging member which is adapted to be Welded to the two parts shown in Figures 2 and 3 to make a chain lug without a bit carrying body;

Figure '7 is a plan view of two lugs of my chain, in which one chain lug is embodied with a bit carrying body and in which the other lug is without a bit carrying body;

smoothly and avoids sagging, jumping or buckling. Figure 8 is a side elevational view of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lin 9--9of Figure 8 and showing my improved pin-type connection for holding the chain lugs together;

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line llll0 of Figure 9; 1

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the connecting pin for holding the chain'lugs together;

Figure 12 is a perspective view of a bushing through which the pin in Figure 11 fits;

Figure 13 isa side elevational view of aspringwhich fits between the bushing and the pin to keep the pin from coming out of the bushing;

Figure 14 is a side elevational view of a cutter 35. bar showing my chain as it appears thereon;

Figure 15 is a plan elevational view of my chain in which every lug of the chain is a bit carrying lug;

1 Figure 16 is a side elevational view of a modified arrangement of my chain lug assembly;

Figure 17 is a view similar to Figure .2 with a spacer between the two parts to vary the width.

of the chain lug; Figure 18 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view,

taken on line 18-! of Figure 8, and shows primarily a tooth of the driving sprocket and a tooth recess in a chain lug, and

Figure 19 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 9| 9 of Figure 14 and shows primarily the guiding of the chain in the cutter bar.

With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 8 of. the

drawings, my chain link is constructed of two identical parts 20. The two parts 20 are described as being identical, although one may be characterized as a left-handed part and the other as a right-handed part. They are arranged to be matched together and then welded to make the complete link of the chain. Each of the identical parts 20 is provided with an eye connection portion 2| and a yoke connection portion 22, each having rounded ends. The eye connecting portion 2| comprises two member 2| :1 and 2|b and have an eye opening 23 and the yoke connection portion 22 comprises two side members 2211 and 22b and have a yoke opening 24. The top edge of each of the identical parts 20 is provided with lateral flanges 25 and the bottom edge thereof is provided with a laterally extending gib 26 for engaging the cutter bar.

The inner side wall 3| and the outer side wall 32 of the eye connection portion and the inner side wall 33 and the outer side wall 34 of the yoke connection portion are respectively off-set relative to each other through means of integral interconnecting juncture members 86 and 8|, see Figure 18. The amount of the off-set is such that the inner side wall 33 of the yoke connection portion lies in substantially the plane as the outer side wall 32 of the eye connection portion. Accordingly, when the two halves 26 are registered and welded together the inner side walls 23 of the yoke connection portion are spaced apart'by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the two registering eye connection portions. The

weld for holding the two inner side wall 3| of the eye connection portion 2| together may extend between the reference characters 35 and36. and between the reference character 35 and 40, as shown in Figu 3, giving two welding regions between the parts.

After the two identical parts 20 are registered and welded together, the next step in the construction of my mining machine chain lug is to weld or otherwise fasten the bit carrying body I 4| thereto. As shown in Figure 4, prior to the welding of the bit carrying body 4| to the chain link, the bottom thereof may be cut in either one of four different planes represented by the planes 44, 45, 46 and 41, depending upon the desired amount of staggering of the bit carrying body.

In constructing a mining machine chain, some of the bit carrying bodies are staggered with respect to the other bit carrying bodies in order to cut a cleft in the vein of coal This staggering is accomplished by cutting the block 4| as shown in Figure 4 along either one of the four different,

positions indicated by the reference characters 44, 45, 46 and 41. In other words, a chain lug may,

be constructed with the bit carrying body nositioned perpendicular or with the bit carrying body assuming any one of many staggered positions upon either side of the center line of the chain. making a total of many different positions. The bit carrying body 4| is welded to the top surfaces of the lateral flan es 25 along the juncture be tween the bit carrying body and the top urfaces of the flanges 25 as indicated by the reference character 48. The bit carrying body may be provided with a bit holding socket 42 having opposing set screw opening 43 and may comprise a bit carrying body substantially as shown in my United States Patent No. 2.255.856, issued September 16, 1941, and entitled Reversible mining machine chain lugs.

With my type of chain lug, every lug of the chain may become a bit carrying lug or my chain may be arranged that every other or alternate chain lug, or any other number of chain lugs may become a bit carrying lug with the intervening lugs having no bit carrying lugs. This is shown in Figure 7, in that the right-hand lug 31 is a t c yi lu and in that the left-hand lug 3B is constructed without a bit carrying body. The lug 38 having no bit carrying body is constructed of the two same identical parts 20 as shown in Figure 2 and 3, but instead of welding the bit carrying body 4| thereto, I weld a tie or bridge plate 49 to the top edge surfaces of the flanges 25, the weld being indicated by the ref erence character 50. The welding of the bit carrying body 4| and the tie plate 49 to the top surfaces of the lateral flanges reenforces the yoke connection portions 22 and prevents them from spreading or otherwise moving out of alignment.

In assembling the complete chain, the eye connection portion fit in betwee the yoke connection portion of the neXt adjacent chain and are connected together by means of a bushing and pin connection, which comprise a bushing 5| and a pin 52 having a flat face 53. The outside diameter of the bushing is such as to fit snugly in the opening 23 in the eye connection portion. The

bushing 5| is provided with an internal groove 55 into which snaps a resilient spring wire 56. The pin 52 is provided with an external groove 51, so that upon the insertion of the pin 52 within the opening of the bushing the snap spring 51 holds the pin therein by reason of the engagement effected between the snap spring 56 and the internal groove 55 of the bushing and the external groove 51 of the pin. The yoke opening 24 is provided with a flat face 54 so as to keep the pin 52 from turning within the yoke connection portion 22. In this manner all of the relative movement takes place between the outer circumference of the bushing 5| and the inner surface of the eye opening 23 of the eye connection portion. Therefore, upon removing a chain lug from the chain, it i only necessary to punch out the pin and upon the mounting of a chain lug into a chain it is only necessary to drive the pin 52 into the bushing 5|. In other words, the pin 52 may be inserted or removed without the use of wrenches or special tools.

In operation, the chain is driven by a sprocket wheel around a cutter bar 58 and each of the chain lugs is provided with a tooth socket to receive the sprocket teeth 59. One side of ach tooth socket is formed by the rounded end of the eye connection portion 2 The outside surface of the weld between the reference characters 35 and 36 is substantially even with the rounded end of the eye connection portion 2 I, as the mating marginal edges between the reference characters 35 and 36 are bevelled at 29 to receive the welding material. The other side of the tooth socket is formed by the rounded surface 21 of the eye connection portion at the juncture of the interconnecting off-set members and 8| between the eye connection portion and the yoke connection portion, see Figure 18. The junctures of the interconnecting off-set members 80 and 8| between the eye connection portion and the yoke connection portion are not square off-sets but are gradually curved or angularly off-set so that the surface 21 contacted by the sprocket teeth is closer to the center of the opening 23 than the external off-set shoulders 28 on the outside side of the lug, see Figures 3 and 18. The gradually curved or angular inter-connecting offset members 80 and 8| provide strong integral connections between the eye connection portion and the yoke connection portion, a the pulling force upon the chain in this region is not concentrated as a shearing force but as a linear force directed angularly which absorbs the shock. The inside end 21 of the tooth socket for each lug of the assembled chain is curved at the interconnecting off-set juncture members and is engaged complementarily by the sprocket teeth. see Figure 18.

The driving of each lug of the chain by a sprocket tooth enables my chain to run smoothly without buckling, jumping or sagging. The buckling of the chain is avoided by the abutting ends 60 and 6! of the lateral flanges 25 engaging each other and forming effective stops to prevent athe lugs of the chain from cocking or jamming in the cutter bar. Thus, the lateral flanges 25 serve substantially five functions, namely, (1) to provide surfaces to weld the bit carrying body 4| or the tie plate 49 thereto, (2) to give lateral stability to the side walls of the yoke connection portion, (3) to provide wearing surfaces against the top of the Wearing plates 52 of the cutter bar, (4) to prevent the chain from sagging downwardly, and (5) to prevent the lugs of the chain from jamming. The bottom gibs 26 have an arcuate upper edge surface 63 so that as the chain lug passes around the rounded or forward end of the cutter bar the upper arcuate surfaces 63 form a somewhat continuous and curved contact with the channel in the cutter bar to keep the chain lug from jamming and thus Well sustained for cutting operations, see Figure 14.

In Figure 15, I show each lug 64, 65, B6 and 61 of my chain having a bit carrying body, staggered with respect to each other so that the set screws in opposite ends of the bit carrying body avoid striking or engaging other set screws in adjacent bit carrying bodies.

In Figure 16 I show a modification of my invention in that the ti plate 68 is welded in such a position that it makes an abutting engagement at 69 with the bit carrying body at 10 so as to keep the chain from sagging. With this modification, the abutting ends 60 and SI of the flanges 25 may be dispensed with, or the resistance to sagging may be eifected by employing both the abutting ends 60 and 6! as well as the tie plate 68 engaging the bit carrying body. The coal dust and other particles which fall through the bit holding socket may escape to the outside through the dust opening H in the side Wall of the yoke connection portion 22.

In Figure 17, I show a spacer between the two identical parts to vary the thickness of the chain. The spacer 15 may be of any desired thickness to make the width of the chain accommodate varying operating conditions.

Due to certain limits in operating speeds of cutting chains, it has been important heretofore that chains be built of a certain pitch, in order that the pitch diameter of the driving sprocket be of a dimension which can be accommodated by the gearing of the machine. Since my chain accommodates a sprocket tooth in every juncture or lug of the chain and since the chain can be operated on a sprocket of an uneven number of teeth as well as an even number, it becomes possible to manufacture chains into a standard pitch which can be accommodated by any ratio of gearing and yet maintain the cutting speed the gearing permits.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the" detailsof construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a mining machine chain having yoke and eye connection portions, a pivotal connection for the yoke and eye connection portions, said pivotal connection comprising a bushing and a pin fitting therein, said bushing having a groove on the inside thereof and said pin having a groove on the outside thereof registering with the groove on the inside of the bushing, and a resilient member fitting in the grooves to resiliently hold the pin in the bushing.

2. A mining machine chain lug comprising, in combination, a yoke and an eye connection portion having an off-set juncture therebetween.

said ofi-set juncture being disposed in a gradual angular direction to absorb shock, said yoke connection portion being arranged to embrace an eye connection portion of an adjacent lug and forming a sprocket tooth receiving recess, the transverse inside surface of the sprocket tooth receiving recess at the off-set juncture being disposed in a gradual angular direction and making the surface contacted by the sprocket tooth closer to the center of the eye connection portion than the external surface of the off-set juncture, said yoke connection portion having lateral flanges along the upper edge thereof, said lateral flanges abutting against the lateral flanges of an adjacent lug, said yoke connection portion also having lateral gibs along the lower edge thereof, the upper surface of the gibs being arcuate to form a close fit within the curved end of the cutter bar.

3. A mining machine chain lug having an eye connection portion, first and second interconnecting juncture members and a yoke portion having first and second substantially parallel side members spaced from one another, the said eye connection portion having substantially parallel side members having their inner surfaces engaging each other and joined together, the said first interconnecting juncture member being integrally connected to the eye connection portion and extending in an outwardly direction therefrom and integrally merging with the said first parallel yoke side member, the point of merger forming a shoulder on the outside of the first yoke side member, the said second interconnecting juncture member being integrally connected to the eye connection portion and extending in an outwardly direction therefrom and integrally merging with the said second parallel yoke side member, the point of merger forming a shoulder on the outside of the second yoke side member, the said first and second juncture members being substantialy at least as thick as the yoke side members with which they integrally merge, the juncture members diverging outwardly in opposite directions from the eye connection member with their inner surfaces forming sprocket engaging surfaces, the said outside shoulders of the yoke side members being further removed from the centerline of the eye connection portion than the inside sprocket engaging surfaces.

4. A mining machine chain lug having an eye connection portion, first and second interconnecting juncture members and a yoke portion having first and second substantially parallel side members spaced from one. another, said yoke connection portion having lateral flanges along the upper edge thereof, said lateral flanges abutting against the lateral flanges of an adjacent lug, the said eye connection portion having substantially parallel side members having their inner surfaces engaging each other and joined together, the said first interconnecting juncture member being integrally connected to the eye connection portion and extending in an outwardly direction therefrom and integrally merging with the said first parallel yoke side member, the point of merger forming a shoulder on the outside of the first yoke side member, the said second interconnecting juncture member being integrally connected to the eye connection portion and extending in an outwardly direction therefrom and integrally merging with the said second parallel yoke side member, the point of merger forming a shoulder on the outside of the second yoke side member, the said first and second juncture members being substantially at least as thick as the yoke side members with which they integrally merge, the juncture members diverging outwardly in opposite directions from the eye connection member with their inner surfaces forming sprocket engaging surfaces, the yoke connection portion being arranged to embrace an eye connection portion of an adjacent lug and form a sprocket engaging recess, the said outside shoulders of the yoke side members being further removed from the centerline of the eye connection portion than the inside sprocket engaging surfaces.

HARRY M. MORROW. 

